Zeze Castle Site Park

Otsu, Japan, Japan

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Zeze Castle Site Park (also called Zeze Castle Ruins Park or Zezejoseki Park) is a public park in eastern Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, built on the grounds of the former Zeze Castle, a flatland castle (hirashiro) that stood on a small peninsula jutting into Lake Biwa. The castle was ordered by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601, shortly after the Battle of Sekigahara, to replace the older Ōtsu Castle and to control the crucial Tōkaidō highway and the ancient Seta bridge that marked the approach to Kyoto, and its design was planned by the renowned castle architect Tōdō Takatora. Zeze Castle originally had a rare four-story main keep, natural lake moats, and multiple baileys, but it was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1662, required constant repairs due to lake erosion, and after the Meiji Restoration in 1870 its buildings were dismantled, sold, or moved, leaving only stone walls, foundation terraces, and a few surviving gates that were relocated to nearby shrines and designated as Important Cultural Properties. Today, the inner bailey site has been turned into Zeze Castle Site Park, a tranquil lakeside space with walking paths, some reconstructed gates, scattered stone ruins, cherry trees that make it a popular hanami spot in spring, and children’s play areas, and it is easily reached on foot from Zeze Station or Zeze-hommachi Station on local rail lines.